Construction of vehicles



Dec. 14 192 1, 11,078

I I F. w. ROBSON CONSTRUCTION OFVEHICLYEIS Filed Sept. 25, 1926' 3 s eets-sheet 1 Aha-he Dec. 14 1926. I

F. w. RoBsoN I CONSTRUCTION OF VEHI-GLES F'il ed Sept. 25, 1926 3 Shee hee 2 4 F. w. ROBSON CONSTRUCTION 01 VEHICLES Filed Sept. '25, 1926 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 5' v .Jivnb'n Z/kANKhi/Ak/W M /M W "Patented Dec. 14,1926;

r 1,611,078 '-.=UNI P A S TE OFFICE-rrmx WILLIAM mason, or LONDON, ENGLAND, AssIeuon ro WM. & 'rnos. ROBSON nmrrnn, or LONDON, ENGLAND, A BRITISH GOMPANY..

oons'rnuorion or vnmcLns.

Application filed September 25, 192e, Serial No. 137,761 and in m Britain March 25,-1925;

This inventionjrelates to the construction of vehicles ,andmore particularly to the body Work of commercial road vehicles, such as box vans, certain embodiments of the in- 5 vention being especially applicable to vehi- 'cles used for the conveyance of articles in trays orother removable supports such as are commonly employed-by purveyors of food.

The invention 'is however generally applicable to the construction of vehicle body work, the production of 'a body and associated parts of li ht weight. combined with;

' great strength belng the main object of the invention. r

The invention comprises improvements in the erection andbuilding up of the bodies, includingmovel means for attaching vertical light metal standards to base timbers or frames and cant railsor equivalents and roof timbers,-a'nd in novel methods of connecting light metalhorizonta l members such as raves, runners or connectorsto the standards, such novel methods permitting the use 5 of simple wood screws throughout and also permitting the attachment of exterior panelling or the like and constituting as a whole simple methods of joining together the components and at the same time avoiding certain well known difliculties such as'theuse of bolts'and loosening of their heads and nuts and the. stretching of thegheads where rivets are used.

The invention involves the useof light 3 metal standards and similar connecting members interconnected to build up a body.

structure to WhlCh panelling or'other enclosure may be attached and according there- A .to 'the. framing structure comprises light metal standards of I, H angle channel or like section and metal connectingelements of similar sectionj secured, to 'fiat surfaces of said standards either inside or in the same plane as 'saidstandards, the latter contain mg or supporting make-up or filling pieces (of wood or other non-metallic substance to which the connecting members are secured by means of wood'screws entering saidfilling pieces.

The invention also comprises other fea tures of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described I :with reference to the accompanying drawlnsaid drawings, all of which are'perspectn-e v1ews:'

Fig. 1 1s a View of tion.

the framing of a box S van constructedaccording to this inveneo-f -'Fig. 3 is a view from the opposite side of Fig. 2 showing exterior panelling. Figs. 4,- 5 and 6 show methods of c'onnectmg vertlca'l show alternative methods of connecting hor--.

vertical standards.

l standards to cant rails and Figs. 7 8, and 9 In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4 thebase members consisting of the main side members a and end members 6 with longitudinal intermediate members 0 and intermediate transverse members where provided, are preferably formed of light timber, such as ash, strengthened with metal plates such as of steel where necessary. I

The cant rails d and roof supports 6 where a closed vehicle is concerned are also formed similarly to the base members and be conveniently formed of plywood armoured and fabric covered respectively.

In the construction of the side-framing or general upright or vertical work the said parts are built up of light vertical standards. 9 preferably of channel section such as steel, iron, or other metal, a suitable material therefore being that sold commercially under the; name of Duralumin and horizontal raves, runners or connectors h of light angle or channel section, the former being shown in Fi s. 1 to 3.

. The said 0 annel standards 9 are mounted between the main side timbers a and the cant rails d with the plain or fiat side inwards, that is to say, with the channel outwards and their lower ends may be attached to said timbers a by recessing them thereinto'to lie flush. on the exterior as indicated at 9 Fig. 2, with metal gusset plates i to stiffen and secure them in position, the inner parts of the gusset plates being suitably sunk .into the channels as. at i (Fig. 2 upper part) and secured thereto. The upper ends of the standards are also attachedto the cant rails d with the aid of gussetplates itwhichfboth above and below are reb ated into the timbers as at i to allow the body panelling j' to lie flush and the upper ends of the vertical channels g are conveniently -split and bent 5 back as at g to enable them to be secured to the cant rail at each side (Fig. 2), or as in Fig. 4 the upper ends of the standards may be recessed into the cant rails similarly to the lower ends into'the side timbers. -The horizontal members such asraves or runners h are attachedto the flat sides of N the standards 9 by screws h. Saidhorizontal members may beeither of angle or channel section and, while forming partof the light body'stru'cture itself, may be used directly as runners for .--removable trays or supports for articles to'bef transported. instead of said runners being constituted by members quite separate from the body strucv ture as in the usual constructions.

' connection is used between the standards and raves or runners and the screws are countersunk into the metal to allow the runners to accommodate sliding trays or the like with-' out obstruction.

' The body framing described is suitably covered with panelling pf light metal, such as aluminium or other material, and to prevent the panels fromchattering against the standards 9 the latter are provided within the channels thereof 'with'slightly ipojecting' packing blocks 9 of wood or the ike at suitable places, facedwith felt or other soft material '1 to provide cushioning means for the panels. Where said packing blocks are used the raves or runners are attached to the standards by wood screws with the heads preferably countersunk into the runners,

' In the alternative or'modified forms ofv connection shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the' standards g are attached to the cant rail-d and main side mombersby connecting them ,thereto to lie flush on the ex erior (Fig. 6), and the top of'thestandard which contains make up pieces m -of wood or other nonmetallic substance is split or cut so that the sides-thereof may be bent at right angles! 'or horizontally to form flaps m which are secured, .by. wood screws, to the cant rail,

to the back or remaining vertical. part m of the standard (Rig. 6) being similarly secured to the inner" face of the cant rail. The lowerends of the standards are attached to the main side members bybeing lapped or recessed into the-timber of said rail to'allow the body panelling to lie flush, or the said lower ends may be conveniently split or cut,

. bent back and attached similarly to the ups per ends as above described.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7 of a connection betweena vertical channel standard g and a horizontal runner, rave, or con nector .E, the attachment is efiected by wood screws h, countersunk,- screwed into a. makeup or filling piece, in the channel ofthe Screw tuto bers for vehicles required for the general "30 carrying of goods and not necessarily in trays on runners.

In this case said horizontal members 0 are of channel .section lapped on to the standards and are lined with a make-up piece of wood 0 such as ash, or other appropriate .material, except ,at the part which is immediately opposite the standard g, a space being left clear in front of each standard of the exact width of the latter in order to allow'the horizontal member be lapped on. Two sides of each horizontal'member are split or cut to permit of flaps o being bent back at each side at right angles so that said member can he slipped onto the standard and secured by wood screws, countersunk into the flaps and passing through'lioles in the standards into a wood or like make-up or filling 0 in the standard. The rear or uncut portion of the channel of the horizontal member will be the only portion extending beyond the plane ot the standard at the rear and this portion.

permits the connection of the horizontal member to a number of standards asfa complete unit and also acts as an edge plate.

At the point where the standards 9 and horizontal members 0' cross or intersect,'a substantially rectangular or octagonal plate 12 (Fig. 9) cranked or oif set horizontally as at "72 so that it fits over the horizontal.

memberrinay be attached, by screws, to the standard and horizontal member respectively, being suitably screwed'into wooden or nonmetallicmake-up pieces 0 ,0? within the channels of respectlve members.-

As .analternative to the structure just described the horizontal member may be formed of metal bar or channel section of a depth considerably greater than its thick.- ness or width and screwed with 'oi' withoutlapping as standards."

,The make-up fillets of timber or other material employed can then-be screwed to said bar or channel between the standards. To again refer to 'Fig. 1,, the body may be described to the back of the mounted on transverse. members 8 at suitable intervals, reinforced at their outer ends with metal of channel section and acting as bearers, which in turn are carried by longitudi-- nal runners t of wood, metal, or other ma-' imposed on them.-' i 4 From the above description it Wlll be a the heads of wood screws,

terial which are considerablylightened'by. tachment such as rivets or bolts and nuts, cutting away portions thereof as .at t at are apt to work loose. a places which do not take the m jor stresses What Lclaim as my inventlon and desire to secure by Letters Patent of. the United States is parent that in a vehicle having I, 1. A vehicle body framing structure com chann'el, angle or other like light metal prising light metal standards of angular secsections adapted to resist". ben ing and tionand metal connecting elements'of simibuckling stresses, make-up iecesofwood or lar section secured to flat surfaces of said other suitable none-metallic material are standards, lower and u per horizontal-mememployed attached to the light sections and hers to which the stan ards are connected in having other parts, such as raves,- runners such maner' as to lie flush on the exterior and panels, attached as by wood screws for attachment of. an outer covering struc-, screwed into the make-up pieces. ture, and gusset plates connecting the ends The horizontal members fitted to the. 'of the'standards to the-horizontal members, standards have counter-sunk holes to receive said gusset plates being recessed into said which. may pass members.

through clearance holes in a wall of the 2. A vehicle body framing structure comchannel-section standard and which are prising light metal'standard's' ofangu'lar' see screwed into the wooden make-up pieces. tion and metal connecting elements of simi- The makeup pieces may be held in place 1n lar section secured to flat surfaces of said the light sections by wood screws wh1ch pass standards, filling ieces of non-metallic mathrough parts of the light sections and screw terial supported 1y the standards and to I ment which has been described is particuand the heads of the screws are easily accesght sections having aluminium or aluminium alloys, these soft materla lsordmary means of atinto the make-up pieces. which the connecting elements are secured It will be seen that such a construction by means of screws entering said filling considerably facilitates the erection and pieces, and an outer covering structure "semaintenance of the body, sincethere are no cured to the non-metallic filling pieces by inaccessible nuts or rivet heads to stretch means of screws.

3. A vehicle body framing structure comprising light metal standards of angular Raves of suitable section may be fitted section and metal connecting elements of either to supplement or replace the runners, similar section secured to flat surfaces of using wood screws, screwed into the make-up said standards, filling pieces of non-metallic pieces, and these raves may themselves be,of material supported by the. standards and to 1 make-up pieces to which the panels are attached,'- or the panels maybe attached'to the make-up pieces in the standards by wood screws. I ers, gusset plates connecting the ends of It is preferred that the raves lie in the the standards to the horizontalmembers and same plane as the standards but they may recessed into said members to lie flush on the in fact-cross them insideithe standards. exterior, and an outer covering structure se- It will be seen that the metlibd' of'attache i sible.

by means of screws entering said filling 'me'ansjof screws. s In wltnesswhereof I have signed this slnce 1n spec1ficat1on.

FRANK WILLIAM ROBSON.

larly suitable for use with parts made of which the connecting elements are secured ieces, to lower and upper liorizoiit-aFinm cured rtoWthenon-rnetallic filling pieces by 

